We are at the end of our first full work week and true to form there are some struggles along with the joy. One is a project where director and writer are not quite seeing eye to eye, and a gentle intervention by the creative advisors has hopefully allowed this team to segue into a more productive and understanding period. Composers are feeling a bit blocked; choreographers not pleased with their own output. These pieces of the process are familiar to all of us but that does not make them any more comfortable. At our morning get-together and warm up, I remind the group to be kind to themselves and to each other; to leave space for ‘mistakes’, and to truly take tomorrow off as a day away from work.
I visit Sitawa who is beginning her brand new play – about coming from her life of privilege in Nairobi to her first year of University and learning just how narrow her upbringing had made her – stories of washing her clothes for the first time and eschewing her family’s support. We discuss writing ‘pictures’ and ‘action’ rather than ideas and pronouncements and she digs into the tough work of putting words on paper.
Amimo and I discuss her interest in working on a short monologue that she’s just discovered and her desire to hopefully perform it in Lamu next week when we travel there for our public presentations. She suggests that if and when we return to this Lab, we think about a composer and choreographer “advisor” as well as those who are more familiar with text and directing. A great idea.
I sit with Mrisho at lunch (Fish cakes and Shrimp Fritters) and he talks again about the power of Stew’s performance in PASSING STRANGE and his appreciation of the detail of gesture and language. It is good to know that we can spur conversation about the work by exposing these artists to other projects created by Sundance alum.
Roberta is working with our Ethiopian artist, who is here as more of an observer and is also filming the Lab daily, in part for our own archives and in part because CNN Online in London has requested footage. Andnet Dagnew is a playwright and director and we have asked him to translate a portion of his play from his language, Amharic into English – with Roberta’s guidance – so that he can read it to us next week – in its original tongue and then in English.
Christopher, Roberta and I check out a few other residences on the Beach, just in case a future Lab calls us back here, and then we trundle further down the beach to visit the very high end hotel, The Majlis, which sits, like a giant sentry on the opposite end of Manda from where we are staying. It’s five star all the way, rooms as high as $2,000 per night (The Royal Suite), and filled with all the amenities of a European Resort. We don’t actually feel that comfortable there, but we do peek around. A good place to house ‘potential donors’ if they were to visit us in this place.
At dinner a new member of our group as arrived. Hellen Alumbe is a master storyteller and actress, whom I had met on my very first trip to Kenya in 2004. At that time, I noted her charisma and power as a traditional storyteller and so when we returned in 2008 and we became re-acquainted (at a performance sharing where Charlayne Woodard told a story and then Hellen’s company did as well), I was thrilled to see her again. Hellen has a special connection to the Lamu community, and so we invited her to join us in our final ten days here to lead us in our connecting to the local folks. We hope to work with a youth drama group on one day, and do a performance in town toward the end of our stay. So our artist group is now complete!
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